It’s a sad irony of modern life that many African-American teenagers don’t relate to jazz, black America’s greatest gift to world culture.

But a new project in Berkeley called “Rhythm Rocks on the Road” is seeking to change that. It’s a joint effort between The JazzSchool and Berkeley Youth Alternatives, which serves disadvantaged children and teens in West Berkeley.

“Instead of bringing the kids here, we’re taking the music directly to them,” said pianist Susan Muscarella, the JazzSchool’s executive director.

The first round of classes took place last spring quarter, funded by a grant from the Berkeley Community Foundation.

Once a week, under the guidance of professional drummer Alan Hall, a dozen teens at BYA learned how to play rhythmic styles ranging from cha-cha and mambo to hip-hop and funk.

“It’s a really fun program where you learn about rhythms through vegetables and fruit,” he said. “For instance, ‘pear’ is a quarter note, ‘apple’ is two eighth notes, and ‘watermelon’ is four 16th notes.”

At the end of the spring quarter, the kids got a chance to show off what they’d learned in a concert for parents and friends.

One of the students, pianist Dessirree Harvey, 18, proved to be so talented, she was awarded a scholarship for the summer from the JazzSchool, where she received one-on-one instruction from Muscarella herself.

“I got into music by accident,” said Desi, as her friends call her. “I came to BYA to play basketball, but one day I had to wait after the game for my brother and my cousin, who were in the music class. The teacher said, ‘As long as you’re here, would you like to learn a little piece on the piano?’

“He showed how to play it, and I thought, ‘This is pretty cool!’ I mean, I had never played a chord before. So I started coming to class.”

But musical instruction isn’t the only benefit Desi derives. Like every youngster at BYA, she gets the whole package — psychological counseling, academic tutoring, physical education and nutritional advice.

“A lot of our kids are super-smart,” said BYA social worker Becca Prager. “Their barriers are not academic; they’re psychological, social and emotional.”

So BYA offers them holistic support, always striving to show them connections they might not have thought of.

“For instance, sports aren’t just about play,” said Prager. They’re about teamwork, following instructions, asking questions and conquering your fears.

“That’s why this collaboration with The JazzSchool is so great. You take a kid with no confidence and put him behind a drum set, and all of a sudden he’s found something he’s good at. And that’s our opening to say, ‘If you can do that, you can do anything.'”

Berkeley Youth Alternatives was founded in 1969 as a shelter for runaway youths, who were flocking to Berkeley from all over the country. But in 1985 it changed its mission to serve local youngsters, instead.

“We looked around and saw soaring drug use, teen pregnancies, gang affiliations, broken homes and latchkey kids who had nothing to do after school,” said Kevin Williams, director of development and policy. “And we said, ‘We have issues in our own back yard!’ But it was a huge change from dealing with kids from Iowa.”

BYA’s first site was the basement of First Baptist Church on Oxford Street. In 1992 it moved to its present location, the former Wonder Bread factory on Bonar Street in a tough neighborhood in West Berkeley.

“Our first task was providing a safe place for the children,” said Williams’ mother, Nikki Williams, BYA’s executive director. “We had to destroy the myth that Bonar Street was the baddest street in Berkeley, where people would kick your butt if you come into the area but don’t live here.”

Fortunately, she had an unstoppable secret weapon.

“The kids themselves made it safe,” she said. “And the more kids we brought in, the safer the neighborhood got. I don’t care what kind of a person you are; everybody loves their children and doesn’t want them hurt. Besides, it isn’t cool to do drugs with a bunch of noisy kids running around.”

BYA offers after-school programs for children and teens, including tutoring, family counseling, one-on-one mentoring, job training, sports and fitness activities, and classes in computers, cooking and dance.

It also has programs for kids with special needs, including those on probation, in foster care and group homes, or who are pregnant, new mothers, or chronically truant.

Williams knows the obstacles many of the kids face because she’s been there herself.

The child of an alcoholic father and youngest of nine children, she grew up in a ghetto in St. Louis “that was so poor, we didn’t even make it to the projects. So when kids tell me, ‘You don’t understand,’ I say, ‘Yes, I do.'”

Many of BYA’s volunteer tutors and mentors are UC Berkeley grad students in the public health or education departments, working under the watchful eye of a clinical supervisor.

Williams thinks they are valuable not only for what they do, but also for what they represent.

“Our kids don’t realize they live in the back yard of one of the greatest universities in the world,” she said. “These grad students are role models for them. I want them to want to go to Cal, too.”

Not coincidentally, all the walls at BYA are painted blue and gold.

“I’m not above a little brainwashing,” she admitted.

The grant from the Berkeley Community Fund paid only for last spring’s first round of “Rhythm Rocks on the Road.” But Williams was so pleased with the results, she decided to keep the program going on her own, finding alternative sources to fund a second round that is currently under way at BYA during the fall academic quarter.

“After that, who knows?” she said. “We’ll find the money somehow. Our goal is to keep it alive until next spring, when we can go back to the Berkeley Community Fund for another grant.”

In the meantime, the youngsters are being fed as much jazz as possible — but not force-fed.

“We don’t force them to participate in anything, except academics,” said Williams. “But we do like to egg them on a little.”

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